5 Answers
5

Under the terms of the CC license we (apparently!) grant on posts, you can't demand it be removed as the license is irrevocable, but you can ask for your attribution to be removed. The post is then no longer associated with your identity.

For more information, see the legal code of the license. The Stack Exchange sites are a "Collective Work", in that they are a collection of our individual CC-licensed works. Clause 4(a) has this to say regarding Collective Works:

"...If You create a Collective Work, upon notice from any Licensor You
must, to the extent practicable,
remove from the Collective Work any
credit as required by clause 4(c), as
requested"

Interesting. As far as I know, there's no mechanism to anonymize content here, but it's certainly something that's been proposed, especially with the new undelete feature +10k users now have.
–
Kyle CroninDec 31 '08 at 15:56

cleaned up the run-on sentence that lasted forever, never stopped, and made the sentence, ambiguous; not to mention that it was a great answer that just needed some editing and tuning. Yes, I'm well aware that I just posted a run-on sentence. It was for irony.
–
George StockerDec 31 '08 at 18:05

1

Now there is a new version of the CC ShareAlike licence (v3.0). The summary page seems to be the same - I've not scrutinized the 'legalcode' page for the changes. Should SO upgrade to the new licence version?
–
Jonathan LefflerJan 3 '09 at 6:04

1

It would be nice if there were some citation for the "apparently" part. I don't remember agreeing to distribute my writing under a specific license.
–
Rob KennedyMar 5 '09 at 15:59

Jonathan, who exactly are you asking that question to? Use the "contact" or "feedback" links to propose license changes to the administrative team.
–
Rob KennedyMar 5 '09 at 16:01

This answer would be improved by providing instructions on how to request attribution is removed.
–
DuncanJan 10 '14 at 9:38

Common sense says that if I ask a question and someone answers it, the collective thread is a collective work. But if I answer a question and then delete my answer, that is not a collective work, it is an individual contribution, which I have now revoked. If someone had commented on the answer before it was deleted, then it is a collective work.

We could argue these points in circles forever. Common sense says that if I delete something I posted, I don't want it to be seen any more.

The fact that google may have cached it is irrelevant.

The new fact that other people can see it and un-delete is the problem.

It's not so much a matter of privacy as it is a matter of comfort. The delete button makes it okay to make mistakes. That comfort factor is now gone.

An excellent point. If you delete something of your own, only you should be allowed to undelete.
–
ctackeDec 31 '08 at 15:59

steven a lowe - i love you dogg.
–
theman_on_vistaDec 31 '08 at 16:12

4

If deletion is important to you, then the CC licence is incompatible with your desires, and you must not post, due to the irrevocable nature of the licence.
–
Paul DixonDec 31 '08 at 16:17

1

@[Paul Dixon]: no, this does not mean that I must not post, it means that I must not make any mistakes in what I post. Given that I am human (as opposed to, say, Jon Skeet), this makes me uncomfortable, as in "not relaxed and happy about contributing".
–
Steven A. LoweDec 31 '08 at 16:20

Sorry, I was focussing more on what the licence allows SO to do, rather than the new undelete moderation features. FWIW, I agree, if you give the user the chance to delete their CC licenced content, it should stay deleted.
–
Paul DixonDec 31 '08 at 16:24

I've had people answer my questions, engage in comments with me on their answer, then delete their answer. I'm annoyed that people can delete my comments like that, and I want them back. I like your definitions, although I'm fine with stuff being undeletable or infinitely restorable.
–
skiphoppyDec 31 '08 at 16:38

There could be a legit reason for this. Off the top of my head he could have been discussing some technologies or practices at his employer and they may have policies against that - especially if it is a DoD contractor, etc. his mistake in that case obviously.

There are of course other reasons. This may not be just someone who wants to take his ball and go home.

If there is a legit reason that Jeff or the other owners are suitably impressed by perhaps they will delete all your content from SO. You are SOL with external caches though unless you can get court orders...

I think this is a very important post. Any content that is inadvertently released on the site that the poster doesn't own the right to publish it under the CC license should be immediately and irrevocably removed.
–
Chris MarisicAug 27 '09 at 17:21

SO is a community site, anything you post here is public, just like any other forum, blog that accepts comments, or any other website. The information that you post here, one way or another will continue to exist in most cases for a long time to come. You have to consider the Google Cache and other items as well, outside of SO that would have "copies" of your content.